


My Entire Life

by Andromeda_Nova



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Long-Distance Friendship, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, fem!reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:41:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27793225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromeda_Nova/pseuds/Andromeda_Nova
Summary: When you say you can't imagine life without each other it becomes clear to everyone that becoming a couple is only a matter of time. Who knew falling in love with your best friend was something that was going to happen.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1: Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this in the beginning of October. I'm in the middle of writing chapter 8 so I should be writing out the last bit of chapters. I have no idea how many that is. This all started out as what was supposed to be a one shot. Hope you enjoy this dump of mostly exposition.

They couldn’t even remember the first time they ever saw each other. When Leon and Y/N said they grew up together, they really meant it. It wasn’t like with most kids where they first saw each other in their first years of school. They were part of that rare group of people who had baby photos together and never grew out of seeing each other.

Y/N’s mother had moved into Postwick 3 months before her baby was due. She was moving into the small town to get away from the busy city that she grew up in. She thought it would be a better place for a child to grow up in.

It wasn’t long until she met the woman who would be a mom to Leon in a month. The two women got along well, quickly becoming friends. It wasn’t long till they could easily trust each other to watch their baby.

Constant playdates ensured when Leon and Y/N were finally able to have memories, it ended up being of each other as their first ones. As they grew, some of those early memories faded as early memories do, yet that first memory remained to be something to do with each other.

-

It was late into the summer when Leon had just turned 5 not long ago. Leon and Y/N were “exploring” in the backyard as Y/N’s mother watched them from the kitchen window doing dishes. The two of them were splashing around in puddles made from the rain a day earlier pretending they were in an ocean surrounded by Pokémon.

If they weren’t in the backyard playing you could find them looking at the picture book of Pokémon pretending to be trainers. Leon had already begun to take a liking to a certain fire type. If anyone asked Y/N what her favorite Pokémon was they would get a different answer every day. Her answer did show a pattern that lead more to ghost types which made her mom a bit uncomfortable but it wasn’t much to be worried about.

Tired out from running around, they sat on the swinging chair showing each other different Pokémon from their picture book.

“I’m gonna win every time.” Leon told Y/N while pointing at the picture of the Charizard.

“Nu-uh!” Y/N shook her head.

“Yeah, I am.” Leon pouted. “I’m gonna be the best.”

“But I want to win too.” Y/N crossed her arms. “I’m gonna win better than you.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Not if I win first.” Leon told her, already jumping out of the chair to go play once again.

-

They were 6 now. Leon was already learning as much about battling as he could. Y/N and Leon were watching Hop while Leon’s mom went to go get his milk from the kitchen.

They sat on the floor on top of a blanket that was spread out. Hop sat in the middle of them. Leon held out a Wooloo plush he picked out for his brother trying to get Hop’s attention.

“Can we run type match-ups once my mom gets back?” Leon asked.

“We always run type match-ups. Don’t you have them memorized already?” Y/N shook a rattle which brought a happy squeal out of a baby Hop.

“I want to start running them with Pokémon now.” Leon gave the Wooloo to Hop. Hop shook it around in his small hands before quickly dropping the plush.

“We can’t even do the gym challenge till we’re 10.” Y/N said disappointed that this came up again.

“I know. I just want to know for when we can go.” Leon smiled at Hop. “I think Hop would think it's cool.”

“Hop’s a baby. He can’t even say cool.”

“Meanie.”

Y/N playfully stuck her tongue out at her friend.

-

They were both 10, finally old enough to go on the challenge during the beginning of spring. Leon sat on the steps of Y/N’s house waiting on her so they could go pick up Sonia for the challenge. He could have knocked and waited for her inside but he wasn’t ready to deal with Y/N’s mom going on about how she was so proud of them.

He let Charmander out of his pokéball. “Think we should call Sonia and tell her we are gonna be late?” Leon asked. Charmander looked up to where Y/N’s room was and nodded a yes.

Leon took off his backpack and took out his phone. He scrolled looking for where Sonia’s number was.

The quick swipe of his snapback made him look up. Y/N had stolen the hat and placed it on her head. "You ready to go?"

"Once you give my hat back. That one's new."

Y/N ran off ahead of him. She stopped at the fence in the yard, sticking her tongue out at him. "You are gonna have to beat me to Sonia's then." She ran off again faster than before.

-

Y/N sat next to her mom, Leon’s mom, and a four-year-old hop. Leon actually made it to the finals. Y/N had lost during the early rounds of the semifinals but it didn’t bother her. She tried her best and she was proud of that.

She could only sit on the edge of her seat every time that Leon’s called out a move during battle. Y/N and Hop waved their homemade signs, screaming for Leon to win now and then.

That group of four couldn’t believe it. They all knew Leon was extremely good at Pokemon battles but no one guessed he’d be finals good. There was no doubt in their minds if Leon finally had his first loss that he’d do the Gym Challenge again.

Seeing Leon take out the now former Champion’s final Pokémon sent everyone in the stadium in a frenzy. Hop and Y/N jumped out of their seats.

“Lee won!” Hop chanted.

“I know!” Y/N laughed in excitement. “I guess all those type drills weren’t for nothing then.”

“Lee won!” Hop cheered again.

“Let’s go find him!” Y/N grabbed Hop’s hand before running off to try and catch Leon before every news network in all of Galar got a hold of him.


	2. Distance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exposition time is over. It's time to start playing around with the plot.

Y/N’s task was simple. Watch Hop while his mom picked up the cake and Leon from the train station. It was just gonna be a small birthday party for hop who was turning 7.

Hop was a good kid. In a few ways, he was a lot like Leon growing up. His nose was already in books trying to learn about Pokémon. In fact, he was using a lot of the same books Leon had Y/N quiz him on. It was quite cute.

“I’m gonna win against Lee one day.” Hop spoke after rewatching one of Leon’s past matches.

“You know I told Leon I was gonna beat him too.” Y/N said leaving her phone open on whatever news site that popped up in her recommendations.

“Why didn’t you?” He sat on the couch looking ready for the most exciting story.

“He’s just a strong trainer. It’s like he traded his sense of direction for being an amazing strategist.” She spoke highly of her friend. “It’s like any time I thought I had him backed in a corner, I would lose faster than it took to snap my fingers.”

“Was it like that with everyone?”

Y/N frowned. “Kinda. Depending on who you were.” She debated on continuing with her thought. Sonia and Leon were rivals at one point. She hadn’t got the answer to what had happened that made her so upset at Leon that she dropped out. It was probably best not to bring it up. They wouldn’t talk for a year, even now they weren’t close.

“He was good at befriending different Pokémon.” She hoped Hop wouldn’t be annoyed at the subject change.

“Like how?”

“Well, sometimes it would be like you and your Wooloo. Creating an inseparable bond built on mutual trust.” Y/N smiled at a memory. “That it's not about having the strongest Pokémon. It’s about-”

“Having a partner you can trust in. Understanding where their limits lie and knowing when you are going too far for them. Knowing when you can push you and your Pokémon into being the best version you can be.” Leon finished as he walked over to the couch where Y/N and Hop sat.

Leon sat down in the middle between Y/N and Hop. Hop had a huge smile on his face. “Lee you made it!”

Leon pulled Hop into a hug. “I would never miss your birthday. We are going to do whatever you want to do today.”

Y/N fought a frown from appearing on her face. Leon missed her birthday twice. He’s missed their annual Halloween movie night. Every movie they talked about seeing in theaters. Game nights with both of their families. Testing out terrible ice cream flavor combinations. The Halloween costume competition. The yearly ‘drink as many different hot chocolate types till you’re sick’ day.

Y/N forced a smile and took a breath. “I’m gonna go grab Hop’s present from my house. Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“We won’t.” They spoke together.

Y/N grabbed her jacket and walked out of the house. The moment she stepped outside, tears started forming. "Honestly who said all because you're champion now that you can't come home and hang out with us anymore." She wiped her eyes with the bottom of your sleeve. "It's not right to leave us behind like that."

-

Y/N called Leon. It was late at night and his last match ended over an hour ago. It was probably safe to call him and actually have Leon pick up. The after-match interviews had to be over by now.

The phone rang a few times. "Hey Y/N. How’s it going?"

“Pretty good. I'm turning 17 in a few days. Me and Sonia are supposed to go out to eat with Nessa on Saturday. It’d be nice if you could come with us.” She told him, making it sound more like a question. It would be nice since Leon and Sonia had gone back to being friends like normal again. Even if their friendship now included some occasionally awkward moments.

“You said Saturday?” Y/N sat up straighter in her desk chair.

“Yeah. You know I haven't seen you in months and I’m getting tired of being stuck only being able to hear your voice on the phone.” Y/N wouldn’t admit she was begging but she was.

“Let me pull up the calendar real quick. I’m putting you on speaker.” Leon began to scroll through his schedule.

Y/N smiled even though she hadn’t got an answer yet. “While you do that, You want to hear what happened while I was at the store?”

“Sure.”

“There was a guy who saw my lock screen of the two of us in the Wild Area. He called me one of your rabid fangirls. Claimed I photoshopped the photo.” Y/N laughed. “I almost started messing with him but it was my turn to pay in line.”

Leon shook his head. “You get that happening to you a lot?” He spoke with concern. He hadn’t said it allowed yet but he was nervous about accidentally bringing his friends and family into the spotlight.

“Yeah. It really doesn’t bother me. Not like anyone has said anything that’s actually hurtful.”

“What time are you three going out to eat?” He asked.

“Around 5 then I think we were planning to also go see a movie.” Y/N looked over at her Drifloon and the Mimikyu she got during the gym challenge. Even they looked excited in suspense of possibly seeing Leon again.

“I have a night shoot for an ad at 6.” Leon sounded like he was already getting ready to apologize.

“It’s okay. It was last minute. I’ll talk later. Mimi keeps pulling on my leg. Have a good night.” She looked away from her Mimikyu that was on the other side of the room.

“Goodbye. I’l-” Y/N hung up quickly.

She looked back to Mimi who looked like the definition of offended. “I’m sorry. I needed an excuse.”

Y/N got up from her desk and flopped onto her bed. “It's just every year he misses my birthday now. We’re supposed to be best friends.” She pulled a pillow over her face and screamed. “I get it, he's the champion and he has things to do. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” Y/N spoke into the pillow.

Drifloon and Mimi looked back and forth at each other and Y/N. Both of her Pokemon were a bit worried.

Y/N dropped the pillow on the floor and laid on her back. “It’s just so unfair. You know I always try to make time for him whenever he comes back to Postwick. Even if I was already busy and had plans. I’ve canceled a date for him before.”

Drifloon moved over to the light switch and bumped up against it turning off the light.

“I just miss him. So much.” It wasn’t long till her anger turned into tears. She curled into a ball trying to give herself a hug.

Mimi got up on the bed and sat next to her trainer. She rubbed her head against Y/N. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened in the past 4 years.

-

Leon laid in bed at his apartment in Wyndon. He couldn’t sleep. At least there was nothing scheduled to do in the morning. He rolled over and grabbed his phone, checking the time to see it was 1 am. He got maybe an hour or two of sleep at most.

Maybe he could, no that’d be too rude. But she probably was still up. She does have a habit of staying up late. She’s usually editing late at night though, she would be so focused. It also means she’d be wide awake. Leon tapped the back of his phone for a minute continuing his internal debate.

He sat up, giving in to his boredom he called Y/N.

One ring. Two rings. Three rin- “Leon, why on earth are you calling me so late?” She was clearly very awake at least.

“I couldn’t sleep. I figured you would still be up.” He pulled a blanket around himself. The cold of the room bothered him more than he would have thought.

"Well, I'm glad it's that and not you being lost. Still, you never call this late. Is something wrong?”

“No nothing’s wrong. I just can’t sleep and thought maybe if I just talk to someone long enough my brain would finally give into sleep.”

Y/N laughed. “Okay. Well, what do you want to talk about then?”

“Welp I didn’t think that far ahead.” He looked up at the ceiling of his room. “Um, are you working on anything right now?”

“I am but it’s more of a personal project." I'll post it once I'm done editing it."

"Can't wait to see it. What is it?"

"It's just some photos I took earlier this week for Halloween. I think it’s my best work this year.” He could hear the excitement in her voice.

“Do I at least get a hint of what you’re dressed up as?”

“No, You might try and top my costume. You can’t win everything.”

“Well, I think I’ve won enough to have this cape at least.” He laid back, leaning against the headboard.

“Bleh. Are you sure you can’t get rid of that damned cape?”

“What’s wrong with the cape?” Leon laughed through the question.

“You’re right. Throw out the entire outfit and put something on that has actual fashion sense.”

He laughed more. “I didn’t know you hated it so much.”

“Loathe is the correct word.”

“Damn.” He laughed. “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you but I can’t get rid of it.”

“The day I don’t have to see you in that sorry cape anymore is going to be great.”

“It’s gonna be a long time till that happens.” A smile went across his face. “How’s the editing going now?”

“It’s done. I’m just going to post it then go to bed.”

“I guess I’ll let you go then. Good night.”

“Good night.”

He hung up the phone and pulled the blanket off of himself, placing it back where it was supposed to lie on the bed. He opened up an app on his phone to see Y/N had already posted the photo that appeared on top of his timeline. He liked the photo and left a short comment before getting to try and go back to sleep.


	3. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who knows how to perfectly describe how Pokémon sound have my respect.

Y/N hit send on her post before going back to editing some photos she took of Pokémon in the Wild Area a few weeks ago. The fog made the Ghastlys quite scary looking. It also made the photo a bit desaturated. She just needed to liven up the colors while keeping the overall tone of the picture.

Her phone rang. She considered letting it ring so she could try to focus on these photos. She grabbed the phone and answered it before checking the caller Id. “Hello.”

“Y/N I got lost again.” Leon spoke.

Y/N held in a curse. “You’re 19. I thought you’d get better at this. What’s around you?”

“Hammerlocke’s Gate.”

“I’m going to come there and fight you. Just go walk through the gate.” Y/N spat back annoyed.

Leon laughed. “You should still come. What if I actually get lost?”

“Then you can call someone else.” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“No. You should come. I know you just posted that you were bored and wanted someone to come to hang out with you.” Leon sat on the steps near the gate.

Her jaw dropped a bit. He was out here plotting up how to get her to try and meet up together. She basically gave away the information but still. “You’re an ass, you know that?” Y/N looked over at her camping gear. It was already packed up. She was supposed to go to the Wild Area tomorrow anyway.

“Aw come on. I’m free for the next three days. I’m trying to make up for last time. You know I could comment on your post and really bring the pressure on you.” Leon joked.

“We both know that’s worse for you. ‘Leon hits on internet stranger’ or maybe ‘The Champion’s new love interest?’ You want to have to get out of that mess?”

Leon sighed. “Are you bringing up when I commented about saying you had a good costume?”

Y/N smiled and got up from her desk. “Maybe. It was really funny. Risked your family-friendly image for me.”

“Don’t remind me. Our yearly costume contest came back to bite me that time.”

“I worked hard on that costume. Like rushing in 4 hours of hard work.” Y/N teased. “I feel like I looked kinda sexy in that costume. I think I also actually showed off cleavage for once in that photo.”

Leon rolled his eyes. “You did. I had to save myself by posting a photo of us trick or treating from when we were 7.”

Y/N laughed. “You never told me if you got yelled at by Olena for that.”

“I did! That’s why I had to post that photo. Are you going to actually meet me or are you just gonna make me suffer?”

“I’ll be there soon but you are paying for my taxi.” Y/N put her phone on speaker and started changing into clothes more suited for being in the Wild Area. “How long do you plan on us being out there?”

“We don’t have to stay here camping. We could just go to my apartment and catch up while watching movies.” Leon suggested.

“Ooo scandalous.” Y/N teased before laughing.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you like being known as my ‘secret girlfriend’. I think you like watching me get in trouble for that being in the news for stuff like that.”

Y/N laughed. “Well, it is funny since my hair is always different now. I’m 4 different mystery girls. Plus it’s lowkey revenge.”

“Revenge?” Leon asked with shock. “Revenge for what? I’ve been a great friend.”

“A great friend doesn’t miss my birthday every year since they won.” Y/N pouted.

“We could make up your birthday now. I mean that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

“That’s five birthdays. Are you sure you're up for it? I’ve been told I have expensive taste.” Y/N pulled on a hoodie she had for a few years.

Leon rolled his eyes. “You always order water when someone else pays. I think I can pay for water.”

“Yeah but mystery girl 5 is still a bit pissed about the birthdays. She’s feeling like the real fancy type. The ‘make you wear a suit to a restaurant’ type of girl.”

“You are really having fun messing with me aren’t you?” Leon shook his head.

“Yeah. I’m about to leave. See you in a bit.” Y/N smiled.

-

Y/N had set up her camp in the Wild Area. The sun was supposed to start setting within an hour. The plan was to get some photos of the Lake of Outrage. Most photographers were scared to come to this lake since so many wild powerful Pokémon lived there. It was no problem as long as Y/N had Mimi. Her Drifloon wasn’t the strongest since they never had wanted to evolve. She wasn’t going to force her Drifloon to evolve if they didn’t want to.

Mimi was an example of why many people were scared of Mimikyu. Mimi was an insanely strong Pokémon. Easily able to scare off other Pokémon with a look and the cracking sounds of its voice. Any Pokémon that were brave enough to try and fight Mimi, well those got to have a rough playdate.

Mimi was an extremely helpful Pokémon even out of battle. She liked to help find areas to take photos. She also loved to photobomb every now and then. Mimi was an extremely creative Pokémon. Any of Y/N creative endeavors were helped by Mimi being around.

Y/N had been setting up her camera not focused on her surroundings. There wasn't a big need to with Mimi being out to help. She was locking the camera onto the tripod when she felt Mimi pulling on her leggings.

"I didn't know you were so excited today. The camera is almost ready. Just give me a moment.” She smiled before getting ready to attach the lens to the body of the camera.

She bent down to the camera bag only Mimi moved directly in front of the bag. Her shadow hand pointed to the right.

“I can’t get a photo if you stay in front of the lens.”

Mimi shook a no and pointed over to the right again.

Y/N frowned. “Mimi, What?”

She made a screeching like noise and pointed to the right once again.

“Okay, I’ll look already.” She stood up shaking her before looking over to her right. She saw a Charizard walking with their trainer. “Is that...?” She squinted her eyes trying to get a better look.

Mimi creaked again.

“Good idea.” Y/N pulled her phone out of her pocket. She dialed the number waiting a moment before hearing the ringtone go off in the distance. “Oh, he better not be lost again.”

“How do you know I was going to call you in a bit?” Leon asked through the phone.

“Not even a hello? You hurt me. Mimi saw you first actually. She thinks you’re lost.”

“Wait Mimi saw me? Are you both here?” He sounded more excited.

“Yes, she saw you. She wouldn’t even let me set up my camera.” Mimi croaked again. “It’s okay Mimi. You probably saved him from being lost for a week.”

“I’m not that lost.” Leon sounded more defeated with every word said.

“Cause that definitely sounded like a man who knows where he is. Where are you supposed to be?”

He stayed quiet for a moment. “Motostoke.”

Y/N took a breath and pinched her nose. “Where did you start?”

“By the meetup spot where the train drops you off when you leave from Wedgehurst.” He sounded like he was pouting already.

She took a breath again. “When do you need to be at Motostoke?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. I was going to go to spend the night at the hotel there but I thought it was a nice day for a walk and well you get the idea.”

Y/N took the phone away from her face. “Mimi, remind me to take you to the cafe later. I’m getting you anything you want.”

Mimi did a few hops while making a few noises of excitement.

She put the phone back to your face. “When did you leave for your walk?”

“I think around 3ish. I see you. I’m coming over.”

“You probably should stay on the phone till you’re standing in camp.” She very much wanted to keep her sanity and Leon getting lost while being 50 ft away would drive her into insanity.

“I’m not that bad.”

“Yeah, you’re worse.” She waved with her free hand. “You see me right?”

Leon laughed. He picked up the pace. “I already said I saw you. I don’t know who trusts me less with directions, you or Mimi.”

Y/N hung up once she saw that he got close enough. She spoke a bit louder. “No one would trust you to get from your house to mine even as kids.” She exaggerated.

“I’m starting to feel attacked. I just came here to have a good time.” His voice quieted down to a normal volume as he walked closer.

“Oh, you so aren’t trying to start guilting me into not roasting you right now.” She crossed her arms.

“A guy can try.” Leon shrugged.

Mimi wiggled over to Charizard, hopping around, and croaking a hello. Charizard growled a greeting. Charizard bent their head down toward Mimi. She bumped the top of her costume against the Charizard’s nose.

“Why does Charizard get a nice greeting but not me?” Leon placed his hand over his heart faking being offended.

“Charizard is helpful with directions unlike you.”

“Have you tried using ice types?”

Y/N playfully pushed his arm, only for Leon to not even be budged. “Where did you learn to be so rude?”

“You. Now can I get a hug from you? I haven’t seen you in a month.” Leon opened up his arms.”

Y/N went into the hug. “How many times have we run into each other like this now?”

“Lost count.”

Y/N pulled away from the hug and returned over to finish setting up the camera. “Of course you lost count.”

“We could go catch you an ice type right now. Maybe we could find a Froslass. It would keep with your team of ghost types.” Leon walked over and stood next to Y/N as she set up the camera.

“I’m not being that cold to you. I do appreciate the recommendation though. Drifloon rather just chill instead of fight and I do need to find a new Pokémon. Mimi could use a break from being the only one to help out when I come out here. It’s like every Pokémon I have just wants to have a chill time.”

“I was kidding about the Froslass.” Leon thought back to Froslass’s Pokédex entries and shook his head. “You have enough horror on your team.”

Mimi screeched and waved her shadow hands at Leon rapidly.

“You are a cute horror.” He complimented quickly with a smile.

Mimi calmed down and went back to talking to Charizard. It was quite cute to watch.

“You never actually told me why you love ghost types so much.” Leon sat down on the ground.

“Never thought I had to. You have an Aegislash and a Dragapult. I thought you would kinda get it.” Y/N started messing with the camera before taking test shots for lighting.

"Well, that's different. Your team is really just ghost types. Just thought there would be more behind it."

"Well, I guess when you look at the Pokédex, ghost types are either extremely deadly, dead, or just lonely."

"Extremely deadly might be an understatement." Leon had encountered enough problems due to a rogue ghost type. Being the strongest trainer in Galar did cause him to be sent out for some very scary situations. He didn’t like to think about them much.

"Especially with a powerful trainer. Even without one."

"Makes them all kinda scary when you think about that."

"Well all the ghost types I've found, they've always looked a bit lonely like they want a friend. Only fighting cause it's what they can do to defend themselves. Like any Pokemon." Y/N tried to lighten the mood with her reasoning.

"You aren't wrong."

"I've just thought they are only scary as a defense mechanism. Mimi for example. Most people and Pokémon would stay away from her. But she's actually, really sweet.”

They looked over to Mimi and Charizard who were playing around. “It makes sense.” Leon looked back over at Y/N and her camera. “So what are you getting photos of today?” He looked around at the almost dark sky. “Well, I guess tonight.”

“I was going to get photos of the sunset reflecting on the lake. Don’t think I can do that now.” She looked over back at Leon and placed a hand over on her hip. “Since I now have to adjust my plans. You got any ideas?”

Leon looked up at the sky then back down at the lake. “It looks like there’s gonna be a full moon tonight. It’s not a sunset reflection on the lake but it’d be just as beautiful.”

“Probably should wait for an hour or two so the moon can get bright.” Y/N turned the camera off for the time being. “Want to catch up over some food?”

“That be nice.”


	4. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone had a good time for the holidays. I took a break from writing while gone because it's important to take breaks even on things you like. It keeps your brain fresh.

“Sonia I need help.” Leon sat across from her at the table near the research lab.

“What makes it so important that you had to tell me in person?” Sonia stirred her tea as she waited for it to cool down.

“Well, first Rahian was no help so please actually be helpful.” Leon told her.

“Oh, so this should be good.” Sonia joked.

“Sonia!”

She laughed. “Okay helpful mode on. You should have gone to Y/N first though.”

Leon put his face in his hands and sighed. “Well, I can’t for once.”

“What do you mean? You both have been super close for like 19 years. She probably knows you better than yourself.” Sonia sipped her tea.

“Well..” He started.

“Don’t give me suspense.” Sonia lazily stirred the tea in front of her.

Leon held his head down. “I kinda got well jealous of the guy she was taking a photo with on her socials.”

“Wait really? Which photo?”

“The one from a few days ago.”

Sonia scrolled on her photo and found the photo Leon was talking about. Y/N was just hugging a date she had near a lake in the Wild Area. She read the caption. “Haven’t been to this lake in awhile. I used to go with a friend a lot. Nice to share it with someone new.”

“Yup. That’s the post.”

“You’re jealous of a guy she went on a date with once. Didn’t she tell you he ghosted her right after?” Sonia sat there confused but she already put the pieces together. She was just waiting for Leon to confirm it.

“Wait, really!” Leon smiled with excitement before putting on a straight face. That probably came off a bit weird. Last he checked you aren’t supposed to be happy that your best friend got ghosted.

“You got it bad. How long have you had a crush on her?” Sonia thought it was cute and kinda about time. Especially with there being times where she could tell if they were teasing each other or full-on flirting.

“I don’t know. Maybe about a month. I don’t want to make it weird between us.” Leon crossed his arms. “She’s already a very flirty person and I know I’m gonna break one day. What if I ruin our friendship?”

“You aren’t going to ruin your friendship. Just go ask her to hang out like normal and get a feel for the room. If she looks like she’s uncomfortable with it being a date or you overthink and panic, you can just play it off as just wanting to hang out.” It was pretty good advice, something he’d probably think of as well if his brain wasn’t going everywhere. Too bad Leon’s overthinking blinded him from taking the advice completely.

“She’ll think I’m being weird and then she’s gonna question me till I give her answer. And knowing her she’ll get it out of me and then she’ll be real weirded out. I don’t want to risk that.” He brought up with a pout.

There was a knock on the front door. “I got some photos from in a Raid Den I’d think you’ll like.” Y/N spoke.

“Can I hide upstairs?” Leon asked looking at the door in fear.

“No! Go let her in!” Sonia held back a laugh. She knew that there was no chance of getting through to Leon at that moment. Sometimes he needed to face things head-on. It worked for him many times before. And if it didn’t, she’d apologize to Leon later.

Leon sighed and got up out of the chair. He opened up the door to see Y/N looking down at her phone.

“Sonia’s inside.” He looked back to see her running up the stairs. “I think she just went to her room.” How dare Sonia betray him.

“How dare you not tell me you were in town.” Y/N hugged Leon. “Gonna make me think you are avoiding me.” Leon pulled her closer. It had been two months since they last saw each other. Crush or not, he would never turn down a good hug. It was just comforting to get a hug from someone you know cares about you.

They let go of the hug. Y/N left a hand lingering on his arm. “Sonia! I’m stealing him away from you! I’ll be back with the photos later!” Y/N yelled up before grabbing Leon’s hand, dragging him away to go properly catch up.

It wasn't long till they made it to the townhouse that Y/N had been renting. She led him to the place, only letting go of his hand to open the door. “I haven’t been able to show you around at all. I got it a month ago.”

Leon walked in after her, closing the door behind himself. He looked around. She kept her camping gear packed neatly and close to the door still.

“I have a photo studio, office kind of room upstairs. I’m thinking of actually trying to take photos of people and not just Pokémon in the wild.” Y/N took her jacket off, hanging in on a small hook. “I’ll probably try some still life photography stuff too.”

“Nature magazines tiring you out?” He looked over to the living room. On the coffee table, there had to be over a hundred different magazines sitting there.

“A bit. It gets a little lonely now. I’m camping out in the Wild Area more and more. You don’t drag me on trips to the Wild Area nearly enough anymore. Even if it’s me finding you when you do get lost.” She slid off her shoes. “Actually how long are you going to be in town? I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”

“All of today and tomorrow. We are supposed to have a Barbecue tonight.” He looked down at the table near the coat rack. That was his book. He picked it up. The book had some tabs from when he marked it up a long time ago. It now had the addition of a few Wooloo sticky notes he’d given Hop and black paper clips. “When did you borrow this? This was in my old bedroom last I remember.”

“Last week. I actually asked Hop. We figured you wouldn’t mind. I was going to go over later to return it.” Y/N walked over to the small living room. “Think maybe I could return it in exchange for a few of your grandpa’s famous kebabs?”

“Depends on how much you’ve been borrowing from me without telling me.” Leon quickly slid his shoes off and followed her over to the couch where she sat down.

“Not much. Just a few books about where certain Pokémon are in the Wild Area. Maybe a hat when it was raining. I think your mom is just trying to give that hat away to me though.” Y/N laughed. “It’s the one you wore a lot toward the beginning of the Gym challenge.”

Leon sat next to her on the couch shaking his head. “I think I gave up and bought a new hat just cause you kept taking it from me. And then you started stealing that one too.”

Y/N quickly grabbed the crown snapback off of his head and placed it on her own. “Looks like I’m still quick enough to steal your hat.”

He smiled. She looked cute in the hat. “You know I need that back before I leave?”

“You’ll get it back...maybe.” Y/N teased.

“We’ll see about this maybe.” He almost didn’t want to take the hat from her. It was kinda nice to have Y/N teasing him again in person instead of over the phone. “Aren’t you supposed to be showing me around?”

“Yeah but it's just nice to sit and talk. Can’t blame me for missing you and your dumb face.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“You just took a nice moment and ruined it.” Leon laughed. “I thought you liked my dumb face. Have you just been taking pity on me all these years?”

“Yup.” Y/N smiled and moved closer to Leon. “Someone had to.”

“Yet you still missed me?” He could play this teasing game too. He was used to this from her. Just get a feel for a room like Sonia said. Don’t make it weird. And if it fails he could think up a way to fix things.

“You’ve been around my entire life. There’s no doubt I wasn’t going to miss you. You’re always in Wyndon and then even if you are in town it’s to be with your family. Which that’s completely understandable.” She avoided looking at his eyes. “But sometimes it feels like you forgot about me. It’s silly. I know.” Y/N kept her head down.

Before Leon could register what he was doing, he grabbed Y/N’s hand. “I would never forget about you.”

“It feels like you have though.” They both thought back to the missing birthdays and any time Leon had canceled something they had planned out in advance. Even if what they planned was months in advance.

“I still feel like shit about it. It’s like I’m always booked for your birthday no matter how many times I try to get out of it.” They remained in silence, both looking down at where Leon ran his thumb back and forth over Y/N knuckles. “There’s actually a charity gala in two weeks.”

“That sounds nice. What is the money being raised for?” She went along with the topic of change. Maybe it was a bit selfish to bring a damper on the mood just cause she didn’t like being alone.

He ignored her question. “It would be nice to bring someone with me for once.” He took a breath. He could do this. “Do you want to go with me?”

Y/N looked up at him. There was a bit of shock on her face that she wasn’t doing well at hiding. Did he really just ask that? “You know that sounds more like a date right?”

Leon let go of her hand. He made it weird. Damnit. “It doesn’t have to be like a date at all. I just thought it would be nice to hang out together even if I’d be technically working.” Maybe he backpedaled enough. If not he could just run back home and hide. Pretend it never happened.

“No, it's fine.” The shock had left her face. “It would probably be a nice change of pace. It’d be better than staying home watching some cheesy movie by myself. It will just be us hanging but in fancy clothes.”

“So you’ll come with me?” Leon tried to hold back the excitement in his voice.

“Yeah. I’ll go with you. It might be fun”

-

Leon and Y/N were laughing on their way back to his apartment in Wyndon. It was too late for Y/N to even think about calling a taxi to fly back to Postwick. It would just be easier to spend the night at his place.

“Did Olena really pull you aside to yell at you?” Y/N asked laughing.

“Yes! Apparently, I was too distracted and that if I wanted to bring you along, I still needed to remain focused on the gala.” Leon spoke in a mocking serious tone while he opened up the apartment door.

“I think you were focused. If you weren’t I wouldn’t have caught five grapes in my mouth. That’s a skill.”

“That’s exactly what I got yelled at for!” Leon laughed as he spoke. They walked into the apartment. Leon closed the door and locked it.

“You know for a gala there was a lot less dancing than I expected.” Y/N took off her heels placing them next to the door.

“Well, it depends on the event. I manage to get out of the ones that expect you to dance. Did you actually want to dance with me?” Leon asked almost in a teasing tone. He pulled off his jacket and hung it back up in the small shoe closet.

“I just wanted to see if you had two left feet still. I was so right about not wanting a party when I was 15. That was so awkward and painful.” Y/N winced at the memory. Her mom had decided she was going to get a big party when she turned 15 since she didn’t get a chance herself. Then both of their parents wanted to get photos of Y/N and Leon dancing together.

Leon took his shoes and left them in the closet. “You want me to make up for that dance? I think I got better now.”

Y/N stood there for a second to think. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” She was generally curious if Leon got better.

They walked over to the living room. Leon started scrolling on his phone. “You remember what song they made us dance to?”

She leaned over to see the phone and pointed at the screen. “That one.” He hit play before placing the phone on a bookshelf. Music played aloud on a speaker.

Leon held out his hand. “May I?”

She took his hand. “You’re a dork, you know that.”

Leon pulled her close. He rested a hand on her waist and another on her shoulder. “I think you’ve told me a few times.”

“I thought I’ve told you more than a few.”

He grabbed her hand and spun her. “Maybe.” He pulled Y/N towards him, her back pressed against his chest.

She leaned her head back and looked up at him. “Who taught you how to do that?” It was weird that her heart skipped a beat. That was new.

“Can’t remember.” His voice was low. He was quiet like he was avoiding anyone who lived nearby from hearing. “So does this make up for that dance yet?” Leon spun around Y/N again, they were face to face again, but closer than before.

“I think I’m still deciding.” She looked up at his face. Those amber eyes looked so caring. When did he get so handsome?

“Well, what would it take for you for you to say yes?” If she didn’t know better, she’d think that question had a different motive.

She laid her head against his chest. “I’m still figuring that out.”

“We should do this more often.” Leon had a soft smile as he spoke. The song had already changed to something slower.

“The gala or the dance?”

“The dance. It’s nice.” They kept dancing in silence, a few spins happened now and then. No one spoke to ask any questions or tell a story. It was just the noise of their footsteps and the speaker.

“Leon?”

“Yes?”

“I’m kind of tired now.” They stopped dancing opting to stand in place, still holding each other close almost as if they were afraid to let go.

“The guest room is ready for you. The bathroom still has all the stuff you left from last time under the sink.”

“You should carry me to my room.” Y/N spoke before a short yawn took over.

Leon laughed. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope. Completely serious.” Y/N laid her head back on his chest.

“Sure you are.”

“You’re totally strong enough to carry me. I’ve regrettably worked out with you before.”

“If I carry you to bed, You get to be my running buddy in the morning.” Things were getting too much on a more romantic side for Leon. They were friends. He wasn’t sure he was ready to have a relationship anyway. Even if he did want to try having one with her.

“You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“What makes you think that?” He honestly wasn’t sure what he was doing anymore. At this point probably just trying to get some more time to figure out how he was feeling. He just needed some time to consider what would happen if he actually started going out with Y/N.

“You love me too much.”

Well fuck. He never had been so glad that she was up laying against him. All though he hoped is that she didn’t point out how his heart was beating so fast that it might jump out. His face felt like fire.

Y/N looked up at him. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have put up with me all these years.” She didn’t mean for anything to come off as romantic despite the slow dance already being surprisingly intimate.

Leon was thankful that his complexion hid his blush. He still felt like hiding his face. It was just a bit too much for him now and becoming more nerve-racking by the second.

“I think I’m extremely tired too.” He faked a yawn and pushed Y/N off of him gently. “I’m gonna go to bed already.” He never moved to the stairs so quickly in his life. “Good night!” Leon went to his room, contemplating why he just did that.

It’s not like anything bad was happening. He just needed a break to stare at the ceiling and think over everything. It was just a simple crush that would fade away. He loved Y/N but he wasn’t in love with Y/N.

Y/N stood there. “Um, good night?” She was so confused. Did she say something wrong? They’ve exchanged ‘I love you’s’ many times before. It came naturally after knowing each other for so long. Who didn't say that to their closest friends?


	5. Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just like to thank the people who are interacting with this fic. I focus on writing for myself so a small amount of interactions hasn't bothered me once. It's just nice to see people like what I write. I don't have much else to say. Have a good day/night.

Sonia, Raihan, and Nessa had to watch Y/N and Leon dance around their feelings. And they were about to lose it. Never had they seen them act so awkward around each other. It was a bit funny at first when it was just Leon. Watching him fumble over Y/N’s natural flirty nature after years of not even reacting was pure entertainment.

Once Y/N started having a crush on Leon, that’s when it got bad. She kept flirting out of habit, it was when she recognized she was flirting with Leon where it got bad. Both of them being flustered was funny the first time. Maybe also the second time but by the third time, it got a bit annoying.

Then there was the venting that they did. The secret texting Sonia and Nessa got about how Leon looked so good today. Even if he was in his Champion’s outfit which they knew Y/N didn’t care for. Leon would call Raihan and Sonia asking if he accidentally made something weird between him and Y/N. Sonia was going to rip her hair out at some point because of them. Why did she have to deal with both sides of their stupidity?

It was still winter and there was much more time off since the gym challenge wouldn’t be starting back up till the middle of spring. When they all had the same day free, the five of them would meet up and go out to do something. Usually rotating on who picked the activity. It was Y/N’s turn and she and Leon had already cooked up an idea.

It was an Unlucky day for Raihan and Nessa who never once had to experience this sickeningly sweet torture of the hot chocolate marathon. Sonia heard of it growing up and saw the aftermath but never been a part of it directly before.

They all met up in Circhester. It wasn’t Y/N and Leon’s usually hot chocolate tasting spot but there was more to try there than Wedgehurst. They stood outside the train station together off to the side.

“So explain this to us again.” Raihan asked, trying to process the plan for the afternoon.

“It’s simple. We go to different cafes and outdoor stands and try a hot chocolate from each one till we can’t drink another.” Y/N smirked. “It’s a tradition between me and Leon.”

“They’re kidding right?” Nessa crossed her arms over the idea that this was going to be how she was spending her day off.

“They aren’t.” Sonia spoke with a sigh.

"I thought the whole point of this was to pick out something we would all like." Nessa frowned.

"Well, you don't have to marathon it like us." Leon tried to get the group back on board. “The whole point of it is to just have a good time.”

"We don't want to have to take care of both of you once you get sick." Sonia spoke for the group.

"I think I'll stay for it." Raihan spoke. Nessa and Sonia looked over at him like he lost his mind. "Could end up with a good post about someone finally winning against Leon." He reasoned.

Sonia and Nessa looked at each other and back at Raihan. "You have fun being the third wheel to their stupidity. We are gonna go find something normal to do." Nessa spoke before grabbing Sonia’s hand and walking off.

The three watched them walk off further into town for a moment. "Shall we go find our first cafe?" Y/N asked.

It wasn't a long walk to the first Cafe. It was a small place that looked family-owned. It was a little crowded inside with a line already formed.

"You boys want to find a table to sit at while I go order the first round?" Y/N asked as they walked in.

"Sure." Leon answered.

Rahian waited a moment for Y/N to be out of hearing range. "You got that dopey look on your face again."

"I do not." They started making their way to an open booth.

"You've had it the entire time she's been walking ahead of us.”

“Are we really talking about this right now?” Leon frowned.

“Yeah. Cause I need to know when to bounce once you both start getting awkward with flirting.” Raihan sat in the booth opposite of Leon.

“I’m not awkward with flirting.” Leon defended. “She’s a flirty person. I’ve dealt with her being like that my entire life.”

“Cause you sure act like it.”

“What does he act like?” Y/N had come over with a tray that held three paper cups. She placed it on the table before sitting next to Leon.

“Like he’s going to win this.” Raihan covered before Leon had a chance to turn into an awkward wreck.

“Big talk for the guy that lost last year.” Y/N looked over at Leon and crossed her arms.

“I didn’t lose. I got called in for a meeting.” Leon defended. He made a mental note to thank Raihan for the save later on. “What flavor did you get?”

“Cayenne and cinnamon. Thought we could start this off with a kick.”

“You’re joking right.” Raihan looked at the cursed cup.

“Nope.” Y/N grabbed her cup. “We did say we are trying different flavors. No classic hot chocolate here.”

“You both like pain.” Raihan liked spicy foods but hot is supposed to be sweet. This was too far.

Leon grabbed his cup. “It's a tradition of suffering together.”

Y/N and Leon clicked the paper cups together before taking a sip. Raihan watched before grabbing his cup and taking a sip. They weren’t dying yet so it probably tasted okay.

It wasn’t long till Y/N complained about the heat. Leon followed in example soon after. Raihan managed to win his first hot chocolate marathon. It was a loss that Y/N and Leon were not proud of.

-

It was Leon’s 20th birthday. Last year he got stuck in meeting hell, by the time it was over he was too tired to do anything. This year all he wanted to do for his birthday and the rest of the weekend was go hang out with his family and sleep. He just felt so tired.

So when he got home and greeted his family, he didn’t see the extra pair of shoes by the door when he slid off his own. He didn’t even pay attention to what his mom said before heading up to his room. He just shrugged it off and said okay.

He opened the door to his room. The curtains were already closed and the light was off. It was perfect for an afternoon nap. His tired eyes kept blinking only to process very little information about his surroundings. He dropped his bag and took off his hat, placing it on the desk.

He flipped a switch for a fan on before taking off his shirt and throwing it on to the chair. The cool air felt nice especially after the short walk home in the summer heat. His eyelids were practically closed as he walked towards the bed. He crawled in the bed, pulling the covers over himself.

He would have drifted off with no problem if it wasn’t for the fact the back of his hand hit something on his bed. He opened his eyes, ready to launch the intruding object across the room. He turned his head over to the left.

“Y/N!?” He spoke in a loud whisper. “What are you doing in here?”

No response.

He sat up and shook her arm. “Y/N wake up.”

She shook her head and kept her eyes closed. “I got three hours of sleep.” Y/N pulled the blankets closer. “Your mom said I could sleep in here while the cake is in the oven.”

Well, that explained that. Still felt weird seeing her laying there in his bed. “Should I just sleep on the floor then?” He was tired but still wanted to make sure he wasn’t violating her space.

“Your room. Your bed. I don’t care. Just shut up. I need the extra hour.” Y/N curled more into the blankets.

“Are you sure?” He was mostly asking for himself. Friends typically don’t share a bed. Between that and his crush he really wasn’t sure if he should even be laying there.

“Yes. Just lay back down. If you talk again, I might push you off.” She pulled the blanket over her head.

He slowly laid back down trying not to accidentally hit her or make a noise. This was fine. There was no need to be weird about it. They were both adults. Just go to sleep like normal. He yawned. It was best to just let this be. Not like anyone would question this if they walked in the room. He could think about the complexities of this later, for now, sleep.

Y/N woke up still a bit tired but felt so much better. For an hour of sleep that felt much longer but she loved it. She rolled over off of her side to lay on her back. Looking over to the right she saw Leon. His hair was a wreck despite being pulled back in a ponytail. The slightest bit of drool laid by his mouth.

He was cute despite the bits of drool. If it wasn't for that she left her phone in her bag she would take a photo. She looked around the room once more. There was a wall to her left and Leon to her right. Oh. Oh no. She was trapped.

This was not thought out well at all. Maybe she could try and crawl out over the headboard. But knowing her luck she would just fall and hurt herself. Crawling over Leon was not an option. They were close and she definitely wouldn't have minded it one bit, but that definitely felt like crossing a boundary.

They left her with a final option. She shook his arm, keeping her hand on top of the blanket. "Leon. Can you get up real quick?" She kept her voice low.

He shook his head no.

“I have to go help with your birthday cake.”

“Well, now I don’t want to get up.” He kept his eyes closed and fought a smile.

“You ass.” Y/N shook his arm. “You are clearly awake. Let me out. I’m trapped.”

“I don’t think I should.”

“Leon.” She spoke deadpanned.

“Yes.” He responded playfully.

“Let me up.”

“No. You were rude earlier.”

“How was I- You know what, I’m sorry. I was sleepy and that made me rude. May you please get up so I can go help decorate your birthday cake?” She asked as sarcastically sincere as she could.

Leon turned his head to look over at her finally. “A very wise person told me that this was my room and my bed. And I’m still tired. I want to lay here just for five more minutes.”

She turned over on her side to face him. “Why are you like this?”

“Well, I am tired. You try getting only four hours of sleep every night for an entire week. Then have a huge match every night. Then there are ad campaigns I have to be a part of. Don’t forget the meetings with different sponsors that I have to be there for even though the companies don’t even want to hear what I have to say.” He turned over on his side to properly face Y/N. “They just want my face on whatever product they are selling.”

“Okay, I get it. Bad week. I’m sorry.” She placed a hand underneath her head. “I don’t know how to make it better for you. At least it’s Friday.”

“It’s okay. It’s a bit better now actually.” He smiled looking down at the bed.

“Really? Why?”

“Well, I don’t have to think about being the Champion till Monday for one. I get to actually celebrate my birthday this year. It’s also nice talking to you.”

Y/N smiled. “Well, I’m glad me being annoyed by you trapping me here makes you feel better.”

Leon laughed. “You aren’t trapped here.”

“I’m totally trapped here between you and a wall.” She looked back up at him. “Quit laughing. I could still push you off.”

“I could always actually trap you here for real.” He teased.

“Uh-huh sure, you will. I’m sure it's been five minutes. Let me up.”

He stayed quiet in thought for a short moment. “If you lay here and talk with me longer I promise I won’t shove cake in your face this year.”

“Considering how long it takes to wash icing out my hair it’s tempting.”

“Well is it temping enough?”

“Depends. Why are you trying to keep me here?” Not that Y/N was complaining.

“Haven’t had the chance to even text you ‘hi’ this week. I just want to catch up in person while I can. Is that so bad?”

“I guess not. What do you even want to talk about?”

“Actually I’m not sure.”

Y/N placed her hands on Leon’s chest to push him before taking her hands back off and pulling them close to herself. “Oh my god go put on a shirt! Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” She placed her head in her hands before turning over to lay on her back. This boy was trying to kill her.

“I came in here and took my shirt off so I could sleep.” He spoke as if it was common knowledge.

She felt the heat of blush cover her face. “You saw me sleeping in here and yet you still-”

“I didn’t know you were in here till I laid down!” Leon defended.

"Oh, that definitely doesn't make it better. Wait, you are trying to keep me here laying next to you while you're shirtless. I'm not the scandalous one anymore." Y/N sat up, any ounce of shame about the situation leaving her body. "You aren't as family-friendly as you think.” She teased.

Leon sat up. "Very funny." He got off of the bed and grabbed the shirt he had thrown on the chair. “It doesn’t make you uncomfortable though?”

“You’re fine. It’s fine.” She moved over to sit on the edge of the bed. “If I was uncomfortable, I’d let you know.”

He pulled the shirt over his head. “Good to know.”

“I left my phone downstairs. You know what time it is?” Y/N asked as she fixed her hair.

He grabbed his phone from out of his bag. “6:15.”

“She didn’t wake me up!” Y/N practically jumped out of bed. “She was supposed to wake me up in an hour.” She walked towards the door. “Talk to you later.” She left Leon alone in the room.

Leon smiled and shook his head before fixing his hair. It was a nice start to his birthday weekend.


	6. Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can someone get me to finish writing out the last chapter of this fic? It's so close to being done but I just keep starting new fics. Why am I like this?

Leon couldn't have been more proud of his brother. Hop was going to do the gym challenge with his friends, Victor and Gloria. He had given an endorsement to all 3 of them. He did have plans to endorse Hop of course. He was still a bit nervous. This was his little brother going out into the wild area.

He had to keep reminding himself that there was no reason to worry. Hop had his friends with him. And Hop didn’t have his sense of direction. Nothing to worry about. Sonia was supposed to be out there so he was sure she’d give an update on Hop every time they ran into each other.

Why was he so nervous about Hop joining the Gym Challenge? He gave Hop and his friends each a Pokémon. He made sure they knew how to properly catch a Pokémon. Nothing to be nervous about.

Leon looked outside of his apartment window. It was night. It Was Night! Hop was probably camping out in the Wild Area at night! He paced back and forth in his living room trying to calm down. It was just night, in the Wild Area and Hop was probably by himself.

Fuck it, he pulled his phone out of his sweatpants pocket. He called Hop for the phone only to go to voicemail. That's not supposed to happen!

Leon sat on the couch after pacing for a moment longer. He called Y/N. Maybe they could go look around for Hop together.

"Hey. What's up?" There was the noise of other voices coming from her end.

"Nothing beside me being super nervous since Hop didn't pick up his phone." He leaned back into the couch trying to remain calm.

“Oh, his phone died. We put it on a battery pack I brought with me." She spoke so casually.

"Hop’s there?!"

"Yeah. He ran into my campsite while I was taking photos. Do you want to talk to him? You sound pretty worried."

"I'm not that worried. Do I sound worried?" He wasn't worried. Hop could handle this.

“Yes, you do. I'm going to put Hop on before you try to get here to check on him."

"Thanks." He heard the muffled noises of the phone being handed over.

"Hi, Lee." Hops voice came through the phone. A wave of relief washed over him. "Y/N said you wanted to check on me?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. It's your first night in the Wild Area."

"I'm fine. Me, Gloria, and Victor are sticking together right now like you suggested. We even ran into Y/N. She gave us a class on camping safety."

Oh, he loved Y/N so much right now. "You three paid attention to what she said right?"

"Of course we did. She’s making us camp out near her tonight. It's a bit like you two don't trust us."

"Cause we did dumb stuff camping before when we were 10. It's just to make sure you're safe." Leon defended. "You know we trust you."

"I know. Gloria is waving me over for food. I'm giving the phone back. I'll call you later."

"Be careful."

"I will." The muffled noises of the phone being handed back happened again.

"You feel better Leon?"

"A lot actually. Thanks for keeping an eye on them tonight."

"If I told you I saw Hop and didn't make him stay at camp with me, you might curse me out."

"I wouldn’t. Okay, I might. Can you blame me for being nervous though?"

"I guess not. Even though I've seen Hop grow up, I just don't have the same kind of protectiveness you have. I've just seen him long enough to know he's got this."

"Yet you still made him stay at camp with you."

"Yeah. He's a smart kid but he still hasn't camped out before. I think he's got a better idea of it now."

"You have no idea how much I love you."

Y/N laughed. "I love you too you dork. I'm going to go eat dinner now. I'll talk to you later." Victor and Gloria looked at each other, then to Hop and back towards Y/N.

"Okay. Have a good night. Bye."

"Bye." Y/N smiled as she hung up the phone. She turned back over to her small camping party.

“Is your brother and Y/N dating?” Gloria asked Hop.

“I think they like each other.” Hop answered with a shrug.

“Nope just friends.” Y/N spoke trying to clear the confusion. Hop was correct though. Y/N was just worried about ruining the friendship she had with Leon.

She knew that when friends date and it ends badly it tends to be awkward for everyone they know. Almost like everyone picks sides. Y/N had to learn that her friendship with Leon had to change since they couldn't be by each other’s side all the time when he became the Champion. And if she was being honest with herself, she did not take that very well. That fear that Leon didn't have enough time for her anymore still crept in every now and then.

She felt extremely selfish for it though. She probably spent more time with Leon than his family. Hop grew up seeing his brother more on TV and in magazines than in person. It downright caused Hop to idolize his brother. She knew that wasn’t normal.

If he barely has time for his brother, he definitely didn't have time for a relationship. And a relationship with her was out of the question with how needy she could be. If she broke up with Leon over not having enough time, it would get so awkward. Both of their families were practically intertwined at this point.

As much as she hated it. It was probably best to keep dancing around what feelings she had. Even if three teenagers could see clearly that something was going on.

-

Y/N sat outside the cafe in Hammerlocke. She was spending a few days getting cityscape photos. It was nice to take a break from the Wild Area every once in a while. And with it being a nice day, it was perfect sitting outside and drinking some tea. It gave her camera battery a chance to charge up a bit after a few hours of use.

She lazily drew a page spread about Hammerlocke. Having just the sights of the buildings from outdoors wasn’t enough. Maybe if she asked around some of the local restaurants and shops, she could get some indoor photos too. The page spread still felt like it was missing something.

Y/N placed her pen down and took a sip of her tea. If people aren’t in Hammerlocke to watch a gym battle what else could they do? She looked around her surroundings to think.

There was a museum here! How could she forget? And Raihan worked at the museum. She probably would be able to get photos after hours when the museum was empty. Knowing how Raihan was, she’d probably get a history lesson too. That wouldn't be so bad. It could help her to write about what the photo was which wasn't her strong suit.

She began packing up her stuff back into her backpack. Hopefully, since it was early into the gym challenge, it would be easy to get in contact with Raihan. Y/N threw her bag over her shoulder and threw away the empty cup. She pulled out her phone and began writing out a message as she started her walk over to her hotel. She had a 2nd and 3rd battery on charge there that she wanted to grab.

She had her focus on writing out a text when she bumped into someone and dropped her phone. Y/N was about ready to complain even if she was in the wrong about not looking where she was going. That was a new phone and she hoped that there were no cracks.

"I'm so sorry." The person apologized. Wait a minute, she knew that voice. She looked up at them.

"Le-" Before she could get a word out, he covered her mouth.

"Paparazzi following around a lot today. Can you just avoid my name for a bit?" He pulled his hand off of her mouth. Leon peaked behind over his shoulder before pulling a hood over a messy bun. "They won't leave me alone."

Y/N bent down a quickly picked her phone. "Got it." She stuffed the phone in her pocket. She could check for cracks later. "I got a hotel room if you want to hide out for a minute."

Leon pulled on the drawstrings on his red hoodie. "That'd be helpful."

They both walked over to the hotel together. Occasionally purposely taking the wrong direction any time they saw a group of personal space invaders with expensive cameras. Once they made it into the hotel's elevator, Leon finally dropped his guard and pulled the hood off his head.

He leaned against the wall of the elevator and took a deep breath. "Why is it in some cities they have the decency to give you space and in others, it's a crowd around you in the middle of a run?" He complained.

"They don't deserve the right to call themselves photographers. We are in one of the bigger cities so they are sadly expected here." Y/N pressed the button for her floor.

Leon unzipped his hoodie. "I guess you're right. It’s still annoying. I can't even get a jog in before going to meet up with Raihan." Leon began messing with the bun on his head. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Wanted a break from the Wild Area. Decided to take some city photos." The elevator stopped and opened up. Y/N began leading Leon to the room. "It was supposed to be for fun and a nice break from home and the Wild Area." She pulled a key card out of her pocket and swiped it, unlocking the room.

"What did it turn into?" Leon asked with a small laugh. He closed and locked the door on the way in.

Y/N took her backpack off her shoulder and placed it on the bed. "A photo spread about Hammerlocke and its sights."

Leon took off the hoodie and placed it on the back of a chair. "Sounds interesting." He sat down and enjoyed the cool air hitting his arms. "Are you gonna get anything about the museum?"

She turned around to face Leon and sat on the bed. "I was about to ask Raihan if I could come in after-hours sometime this week to take photos but I bumped into this guy who clearly wasn't looking where he was going." She tried to hide a smile that crept up on her face.

"You say that like you weren't doing the same." He crossed his arms.

Y/N laughed and moved the bag to the floor. “I still knew where I was going.”

“I wasn’t lost. I know I’m not great with directions but I was just trying to get away.” Leon defended.

"I know. I just like messing with you." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know, I can easily get you back right now." He warned.

“Oh stop trying to make friendly teasing a challenge.” Y/N leaned forward, placing her elbow on her lap, and rested her head on her hand. “Especially a challenge I would win.”

Leon faked being offended. “You really think you would win?”

“Know.”

Leon stood up and started walking towards her. “Remember how I said that I was on a run earlier?”

“Yeah, why?” Leon was standing in front of her by the time her brain pieced together what he was doing. She sat up. “Back away. I don’t want to be covered in your sweat.”

“Well, too bad.” Leon pulled her into a tight hug.

“You’re an ass.” Y/N laughed as she tried to push Leon off. She leaned back tried to try and wiggle out of his grasp. Only to throw off Leon’s balance and cause him to fall on top of her. They both stayed silent for a moment only to bust out in laughter.

Leon felt his face heat up as he looked at her. "I'm sorry."

“It’s fine. We’re just goofing off.” Y/N looked away from him. There was no way she was going to able to hold herself back from kissing him if she kept her eyes on him.

“I know, it’s just, well you know.” Leon stammered. She had no right looking that cute laying there under him. He rolled off of her and laid next to her

“None of what you just said made any sense.” She turned her head over to left stealing a glance at Leon before focusing her eyes on the ceiling.

"It’s just," Leon took a breath trying to get his thoughts together, "tell me if I was reading into things too much."

Y/N turned her head back to look at him. Part of her worried that she did something that upset him. She had done nothing different, she hoped.

"I know we flirt back and forth all the time. We've done that forever. How much of that is real for you?" Leon turned his head over, his eyes scanning Y/N’s face for any sign of discomfort.

"Did it make you uncomfortable? I just figured we were messing around." Her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest.

“No. I don’t think you could do anything that would make me uncomfortable. And even if you did, I would let you know.” He looked back up at the ceiling. His eyes traced along the trimming almost like he was looking for a way to make sense of what he wanted to say.

“You know how there’s a difference between different types of love?”

“I think I’ve had to explain it to people enough times before.”

“Then there’s unconditional love.” She began playing with a necklace she had on.

“Something usually reserved for family and in some cases, even friends. I think it’s fair to say we love each other unconditionally.”

“How could I not? I’ve known you for so long. We were basically attached at the hip as kids.” Y/N laughed thinking back on memories of growing up together. “Remember when we were 7 and we got put in different classes. You threw a fit refusing to anything until you got put in my class.”

Leon covered his face cringing over the memory. “I had that repressed. Of all examples, that’s the one you pick? You make me sound like a brat.”

“Well as big as a brat you were being. It’s still kinda sweet."

"No, it's not. Me sending you flowers after your first boyfriend broke up with you the week before Valentine’s day is sweet." He brought up trying to avoid any more memories that he didn’t want to think of from being talked about.

“I still have one of the roses.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Of course not. I have a bouquet of dried flowers in my bedroom. The only yellow rose in there is from you. I think that was the only time you gave me flowers.”

“Should I be giving you more flowers?” Leon felt a bit bolder after what she said.

“I wouldn’t mind. Just no lilies, they make my allergies act up.”

“I’ll keep that in m-” His phone began to ring. He groaned in annoyance before pulling his phone out to check. He sat up. “It’s Raihan. I think I’m late.” He let the phone keep ringing.

“I guess you should go then.” She didn’t do well hiding her disappointment.

“You could walk with me. You still have to ask about the museum photos and what if I get lost on the way there?” The phone stopped ringing.

She sat up quickly but tried to hide her excitement in her voice. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Let’s go then.”


	7. Inbetween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed to write an entire 140 words for the last of the chapter. My motivation to write is slowly returning. It's great cause I have only so many prewritten chapters and they are finally catching up to me.

It had been a week since Y/N ran into Leon in Hammerlocke and she hadn’t told anyone what happened yet. She and Leon still have some things to talk about still. And the thought of either of their parents finding out and getting overly excited terrified her.

They spent years actively saying they wouldn't date and they were just friends. It was true at the time but now they were inching closer and closer. They already began the process of tiptoeing the line trying to see where they could cross.

Leon thought his crush on Y/N was bad before. Now he was trying to avoid every free second from becoming 'think about Y/N time'. People around him did notice he was a bit happier than normal. They either didn't think much of it or just let him be without asking.

Leon was in the private locker room just trying to relax before he had to go have a match in an hour. He laid on the bench with his cape and hat neatly placed on the floor nearby. There wasn't much to do besides scroll through his phone. He looked back at an old photo that Hop had sent of him with some of his new gym badges. He couldn’t be more proud.

Then there was a photo his mom sent both him and Hop. It was their grandparents wearing homemade t-shirts cheering on both of them. It was a nice gesture but he wished they just focused on cheering on Hop this year like his mom. Leon was already a confident trainer. He hadn't had a loss once in his life. Okay maybe he was a bit cocky about it but that was more reason to cheer on Hop. A boost of confidence was always helpful for a new trainer.

Maybe he'd try to go and watch Hop during one of his gym battles. From the locker room tv. He didn't want to bring on unnecessary pressure. But if he told Hop that he watched the match it might cause more pressure. It probably just would be best to ask Hop if it was okay first. After the match, he'd call Hop.

He looked at the time. Only 40 minutes till he needed to get ready and 50 till he started. Taking a 20-minute nap would be nice but the last time he did that he overslept. A nap was a luxury he would not get today.

He was going to catch up on a show he had been watching extremely slow. It’s all he could come up with at this point. A notification popped up for a text message. He clicked it before even reading who it was from.

There was a photo of Y/N’s Mimikyu and her mom's Vulpix standing next to a vase of flowers. A message came in shortly after he saw the photo. 'Watching my mom's vulpix while she spends the week out of the country to see her parents. Why does her vulpix think the flowers are for her?'

Leon let out a laugh. The flowers did get to her. He had got her roses again. This time instead of the plain yellow he got her when they were 15 he had got a yellow and red ombre. A red rose still felt too bold.

They both revealed to each other that they were open to the idea of being together. So they didn't directly say anything but when you know someone for so long, you can tell what vibe they are giving off. It didn't make it any less nerve-racking.

Leon hadn't been on a whole lot of dates before. He could count them all out on one hand. Technically two hands if counted the one where Sonia had him and Y/N tag along for a group date. But that wasn't a real date. Yeah Y/N was his 'date' that day but they were just being good friends for Sonia. And Y/N had a crush on someone else at the time.

Another photo message brought him out of his thoughts. There was a flower tucked behind Vulpix's ear. A text came through with it. 'Got her to leave the vase alone. Hope you don't mind, I gave a flower away.'

'Guess I'll have to get you more.' Leon typed out. That had to be the right amount flirty. At least he didn't think it came off as too strong. He hit send before he could start overthinking.

Her message came in quickly. 'Can't wait.'It had a purple heart emoji attached to it.

Leon had the biggest smile on his face. He was about to spend way too much on flowers for the next few months. He just knew it.

-

Y/N had met up with Sonia and Nessa at a coffee shop in Hulbury. It was just a quick hang-out before Nessa had to go battling gym trainers in 2 hours. They were just trying to catch up quickly before all having to go off on their separate ways again.

“You need to get into model photography so we can have an excuse to hang out.” Nessa took a sip of her lemonade.

Y/N stirred her ice tea with a straw. “I’m not so sure about that. I’m bad at directing people.”

“You got photos of Leon and Me. How’s that different?” Sonia took a bite of the shared large cake slice.

“Cause we were goofing off. If I mess anything up there’s no pressure.” Y/N explained.

“What about the ones where it’s just Leon? Some networks keep those photos on file for reference.” Nessa brought up as her argument.

“We were still goofing around.” Y/N looked down at her tea. “Plus they only use those photos cause they make him look down to earth.”

“Only you taking the photo could make Leon look down to earth.” Sonia pointed. She was in every sense of the word correct.

“I seriously doubt that. I thought we were going to anything but talk about Leon.” She took a sip of her tea. It was a bit sweeter than she would have liked.

“Oh wait she’s right Sonia. I don’t want to hear her talk about him only to not make a single move.” Nessa got a piece of cake on her fork. “I know I’m rooting for you two to get together but please either hurry up and kiss him or quit bringing up his ‘dreamy’ eyes.”

Y/N laughed. “One, I’ve never called his eyes dreamy. Two, guess who keeps sending me flowers every week.” She spoke proudly unprepared for any questions.

“He’s sending you flowers? Did you two finally get together and not tell us?” Sonia asked first.

“When did you finally tell him? Are we about to deal with both of you being in a honeymoon phase?” Nessa asked second.

“How long have you been a thing? Did you both at least tell your family?” Sonia followed up with the third round of questions.

Y/N’s face heated up a bit. “Oh wow um, that’s a lot of questions for not wanting me to talk about Leon.”

“Ignore what we said. Spill.” Nessa demanded.

Y/N took a breath. "Yes, he's sending me flowers. No, we aren't together." She took a sip of her tea. "Do I have to explain more than that?"

"Of course you do. He's sending you flowers and you aren't together. We need more information." Sonia told her.

Y/N placed her head in her hands mumbling to herself for a moment. She looked back up at the two integrators she called friends. She explained everything that happened while she ran into Leon at Hammerlocke. Sonia and Nessa avoided interrupting till she was done.

"You two are so a couple now." Nessa had some excitement in her voice.

"We aren't a couple. Just best friends who won't stop flirting at the moment."

"We are gonna end up seeing them kiss and they still would say they're just friends." Sonia joked.

"Okay, we aren't that bad. We are just in that weird phase where we both know we want to be together but neither of us has made a move yet." She stirred her tea with her straw again. "I think we are trying to figure out if it’s worth possibly ruining a friendship if things don't work out."

"Do you think that would even happen? You two are so close." Sonia couldn't even imagine Y/N and Leon having a bitter break up.

"Honestly, no. It probably would get awkward at the most." It sounded terrifying to lose her best friend because of a breakup. She didn't want to imagine what her life would be like without him. "Can we take a break talking about this?"

"Sure." Nessa knew the annoyance of people not respecting her space and changed the topic. "How's your research going Sonia?"

Y/N tried to pay attention to the conversation but she just felt out of it now. She and Leon really needed to have a serious conversation soon about this. She was extremely excited over the idea of being in a relationship with him but she was still scared of what that change would bring.

-

Y/N sat in her living room. It was night and she had already taken a shower. She sat on her couch watching a movie with her Mimikyu. She had a bowl of ice cream she was snacking on. It was a nice treat after being in the July heat earlier that day.

The movie was something she’s seen only a few times before when she was younger but never managed to make it to the end. So far her attempt tonight was going well. She had made it into the second act of the movie. Maybe if she finished the movie tonight she would watch the sequel right after.

There was a knock on her door. She looked at Mimi with a bit of concern. Y/N wasn’t expecting anyone especially with it being after 10. She spoke quietly. “Think if we ignore it they’ll go away?”

The knock happened again. Y/N got up off the couch and set her bowl on the end table. She looked at Mimi. “If we have no idea who they are and they refuse to leave, I want you to be ready to use shadow sneak. Don’t hit them if I don’t tell you to.”

Mimi nodded before fading away into the shadows. Y/N grabbed Mimi’s Pokéball and another containing her Hatterene. She didn’t bring Hatterene out much but if for any reason Mimi went down, she needed a backup. And with her being home alone with random knocks on the door, she was glad to have two extremely powerful pokemon.

She slid Hatterene’s Pokéball into her shorts pocket. She walked over to the door and opened it with only a crack. What was he doing? She opened the door wider. “Leon, why are you even here? It’s past 10 and you didn’t even call.”

He looked annoyed and exhausted. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to be in Wyndon after today. Can I come in?”

“Yeah.” She stepped out the way and let him in. “Mimi come back.” Mimi appeared in front of her.

“Were you gonna attack me?” Leon walked in and closed the door behind himself.

“It’s late and I didn’t know it was you. I live alone. You can’t blame me for being on guard.” She returned Mimi to her Pokéball.

“Can’t be mad at you for that. It’s pretty smart.”

“I’m a smart person. Now before I yell at you for showing up this late without calling you better tell me why you’re here.” She walked back over to the living and placed Mimi’s and Hatterene’s Pokéballs on the end table next to the rest of her team.

Leon sat on the couch. “Well, I left my phone at the stadium. Though I did do that on purpose.”

Y/N sat next to him on the couch and crossed her arms. “That still doesn’t explain anything and it didn’t make it better.”

“I just started. Give me a minute.” It was the first time in a while she saw Leon start to snap. He took a breath. “Sorry. So I was having a late evening training session with my team. I thought I’d put in an hour or two and be done for the day. Then Olena comes in and brings in these two from marketing and advertising.” Leon was already rolling his eyes at the thought.

“I mean that sounds like a pretty normal day for you so far.” Y/N added.

He continued with his story. “So Olena leaves me alone with them. So these two start talking about how they want me to do some magazine and tv ads. Then they bring up this model they want me to work with.”

Y/N put her blanket back around her. Leon’s problems sometimes from an entirely different world and it looked like it was going to one of those times.

“So they start talking about this project that I’d be on with this model. And one of the guys suggests I go on some very public dates with her so that could help kick start her career.”

What Leon was talking about was making sense to her now.

“So I tried so many times to politely tell them that I was okay with the ads but I wanted no part of their publicity stunt. They kept going on about how no one knows anything about my personal life which you know is exactly how I like it. It’s like they had no idea how not to cross boundaries. I got them to finally leave me and alone and they started calling over and over and over. So I left my phone and got a taxi here as fast as I could.” He leaned back into the couch.

“Well, why didn’t you just go home?”

“Just decided fuck it, now I’m ‘lost’ for the rest of the weekend. I just don’t want to deal with their bullshit for a bit.” He took a breath feeling like a weight went off my shoulders.

“Why didn’t you just go to your mom’s then?”

“So I can hear her say that’s what comes with the job? Or my grandma say if I had a girlfriend then maybe they wouldn’t try to force things like this on me. I love them but I’m not in the mood to deal with that.” Leon complained. “I just figured I’d come here for the night to calm down. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I mean I wish I had a warning but other than that, it’s okay. I don’t even have a guest room though so, where are you even going to sleep?” Y/N thought the last part aloud. “I think the only clothes I have of yours here is a pair of sweatpants I borrowed when I was at your mom’s cause I got covered in milk.”

“Those will work. I could just sleep on the couch.” He reasoned.

“You look exhausted from all of that. Are you sure you are okay with sleeping on the couch? You could just sleep in my bed instead.”

Leon was caught a bit off guard by the suggestion. He raised his eyebrow at her. “Are you inviting me into your bed?”

Y/N rolled her eyes. "Oh you know I don't mean like that. Don't act like we haven't slept in the same bed before. Just accept the hospitality."

"I wasn't trying to be immature."

"Uh-huh." She shook her head. "Just go take a shower so you can relax."

"Okay. Just where are my sweatpants first?"

"Folded on top of the dryer."

"Thanks." Leon left her alone in the living room.

She looked over at her unfinished bowl of ice cream which was now melted. She got up and took the bowl into the kitchen to wash it out. She turned on the faucet before dumping the melted dessert down the drain. After rinsing out the bowl she placed it in the sink.

Y/N began to think. Leon did go directly from Wyndon to here in Wedgehurst. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't eaten dinner yet. Even though she was annoyed by his unannounced arrival she would feel bad if she at least didn't offer him anything to eat. She probably could just offer her leftover pasta and he’d be happy.

She walked back into the living room and turned off her tv. She’d just have to try and finish that movie another time. Y/N went up to her bedroom and began picking around the room and moving things back to their place. She kept her bedroom fairly clean but it would still be polite to pick up even if he probably didn’t care.

Y/N pulled down an extra blanket from her closet just in case Leon wanted it. She did keep her apartment on the colder side to protect the camera equipment. Even though she was used to it, the cold did bother her now and then too. It caused her to keep enough blankets placed in almost every room.

She looked over at her alarm clock. 11:05 pm. It wasn’t the latest at least to her but maybe it would be smart to also get ready for bed. Y/N sat on the bed and forced herself to start winding down for the night. As she was covering her arms in lotion she heard a light knock on her opened bedroom door.

She turned and looked over. Leon stood at the entrance to her bedroom. He was focused on drying off his hair with a towel. Y/N did her best to not let her eyes wander further past his shoulders.

She's seen him shirtless plenty of times before. It's the nature of what happens when you go swimming at a lake. The last time they did that was when they were 17. Sure she had a glace that day she slept in his room but the shock of it distracted her from taking in any of the sights.

"Do you mind if I throw my clothes in the wash?" Leon's question brought her back.

"Oh sure. There's some leftover pasta in the fridge if you haven't eaten yet too." Y/N offered.

"You're the best." He thanked her and left the room.

In normal circumstances, she would have followed Leon took the kitchen and chatted the night away. She very much still wanted to. She wanted to be annoyed at him for showing up unexpectedly but when she looked at his eyes you could just see how much he needed a break. Maybe Y/N was being selfish by not giving him a chance to vent and get everything off his shoulders. She’d bet everything that he was still stressed out.

She stood up. Her mind was now focused on trying to ignore her crush and trying to be a good friend.


	8. Attempt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My last update was a month ago. Sorry about that. I'm in classes for college again. I actually just finished writing the last chapter of this fic in the middle of everything. Anyway, I'm gonna knock out posting the rest of this fic as a way to celebrate 25 years of Pokemon. Expect the next 2 chapters to posted very quickly.

She blinked in annoyance at the daylight hitting her eyes. Despite feeling tired and her neck feeling sore Y/N lifted her head getting a view of her surroundings. She had fallen asleep in her living room, on her couch, in Leon’s arms which still held her close.

They must have talked all night long. The boundaries between them being further blurred once again. Neither one of them was upset with it. Leon found it adorable when Y/N fell asleep and found her way to snuggling against his chest. He told himself that he’d either wake her up in a bit or carry her to bed. He fell asleep with her before either could happen.

Y/N laid her head back down on his chest. Maybe Nessa was right when she said that they were already a couple. They’ve done enough flirting to drive anyone in the room with them crazy. Leon was sending her flowers every week now. They fell asleep cuddling for crying out loud. At this point, they needed to stop dancing around feelings.

It wasn’t like Y/N had to fear that she’d be rejected. If anything she just wanted to be reaffirmed that her heart wouldn’t be broken. So maybe she was still a bit scared of what the future would hold. Change was something that wasn’t always easy. It was something that she felt like she struggled with.

Leon woke up soon after Y/N. She was definitely right about the couch being a terrible place to sleep. His back was so sore. He opened his eyes to see Y/N with her face scrunched up.

"Are you okay?" His voice was a bit low from just waking up. It took Y/N out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm good." She looked up at him with her face drifting back to a soft smile at the sight of Leon. "Good morning."

Leon smiled down at her. "Good morning." He looked up at the ceiling. "I guess we gotta get up now."

"We don't have to." Did she really just say that? "I mean only if you don't want to get up."

Leon let out a chuckle. "We can stay then."

They stayed silent enjoying the quietness of the room and lack of noise from Wedgehurst coming into the apartment.

"Y/N?" He asked almost like he was reaffirming that she was still there despite knowing she laid against his chest and in his arms.

"Yes."

"What are we?" Leon had an idea but he needed to know.

"Can I be a smartass?" It was an attempt to self-sabotage out of nervousness.

"Well you can but I might not appreciate it right now. I'm trying to be serious." He looked down at Y/N to see her pouting. “I know you’re nervous too. I just think if we try to be serious for a bit it will be better for both of us.”

"I hate that you're right” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll be serious."

“What are we?” Leon was just as nervous as when asked the first time.

“I don’t think it’s fair to say we’re just best friends. I know cuddling between friends is normal. I just know what we’re doing is different.”

“A good different?” To Leon, it felt like time was moving fast and slow simultaneously.

Y/N kept her head down and smiled. “Yeah, a good different.”

Hearing that took a bigger weight off his shoulders than any rant about a bad day ever could. It was a welcome confidence boost. "I got one more question."

"Okay. Um, ask away."

"Do you want to go on a date?"

"Seriously?" Y/N thought she did a good job hiding the extreme excitement in her voice.

"Yes seriously. Unless you hate the idea, then I'm joking."

Okay, maybe she hid her excitement too well. "I'd like that.”

“Seriously?” He mirrored her question from earlier.

She lifted her head and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Yes seriously.”

-

“Y/N?” Her mom interrupted her humming. If her mom wanted help with her garden she could at least let her hum.

“Did I mess up one of the flowers?” It was the only thing she could think of that would be the reason for the interruption.

“No, they’re coming out lovely.” Her mom placed her small shovel on the ground by her side. “You just seem a bit happier than normal. Between your humming and all the flowers you’re getting I have to wonder.”

“What makes you think I’m getting flowers all of a sudden?” Y/N knew she hadn’t brought up the flowers to her yet. She’d be careful to avoid her mom finding out.

“I’m your mother. I check what you post every now and then.” Okay, maybe not careful enough.

“I’ve been getting flowers for myself lately to liven up the apartment.” It was a terrible on-the-spot lie.

“You expect me to believe, after I raised you, that you switched up your favorite color roses.” And now her mom was disappointed in her for lying.

“I still love purple roses. I just thought that the yellow and red ones looked nice.” She tried to double down on the lie.

“Nice enough to buy a fancy new vase they don’t stock anywhere in town?” Forget calling this an unexpected conversation. This just became a thought-out integration. It was like she was the main suspect in a case who only did a decent job at covering their tracks.

“Would you believe that they make rental vase services?” It was a sorry final attempt to keep the lie intact.

“Y/N don’t make me use your middle name.” Her mother was getting tired of her daughter’s bullshiting around giving an answer.

“Do not tell anyone.” Her mother started to open her mouth. “Don’t even tell Leon’s mom. I know you two talk all the time.”

“What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Just don’t tell her.” Y/N took a breath. “Leon asked me out last week?” She couldn’t hide her smile.

“Is that why you don’t want me to tell her?” Her mom looked more excited than Y/N.

“Yes. Give Leon a chance to tell her first. I wasn’t supposed to tell you till after the date.”

“Why after?”

“Cause we wanted to avoid either of you getting overly excited. You both are pretty good at making it weird for both of us.” It should have been an obvious fact for her mom.

"No, we haven't." Her mom sounded slightly offended by the fact.

"We were 15. You threw me a big party. Forced me to slow dance with Leon. My feet were stepped on so much that if I think hard enough I can still feel the pain."

"It'd make such a cute story for the wedding."

Y/N felt like she'd just became a crumpled paper ball. "Mom! That's exactly what I meant by both of you making it weird. We haven't even gone on a first date and you're already planning out my wedding." She took a breath and focused on reminding herself that her mom was just happy for her. "Just please don't make it weird. I want things to go well between me and Leon. I'd prefer if he wasn't mad at me cause his mom found out we were dating because of you."

"I promise I won't tell her."

-

Their first date got moved back a ridiculous number of times. Leon knew he had a busy life but this year, in particular, felt like it was starting to become more than normal. Between meetings, photoshoots for ads, pokemon battles, and now randomly dynamaxing pokemon, there was just no time. Y/N had been understanding every time he had taken a rain check.

The worst of it had been when they finally managed to go on their date. Leon thought they'd get no interruption for once.

It was early in the afternoon. Leon had just met up with Y/N for only a few minutes. There was just enough time to exchange hellos.

They stood off to the side trying to figure out what they could do. It was decided that they would fly back out to Wyndon and find something to do there. It would be easier on Leon since he had a match later that night.

Y/N was about to call a Corviknight taxi. The ground had unexpectedly shaken around them but familiarly. A Dynamax pokemon. In a few seconds, there were some screams of shock.

“Not again…” Leon frowned. He looked over to see a dynamaxed Eevee. This had to be the 3rd one that month. “I got to go take care of that.”

“I know.” Y/N hid disappointment looking down at the ground. “Just call me when everything is dealt with.” She looked up at Leon and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” It felt like he had to say that too much as of late.

“I know it, just comes with the job.”

Leon took out a Pokéball and released his Charizard.

“Good luck.” It probably wasn’t needed to be said but it was still a nice thing to do.

-

Hop had his eighth gym badge now. He got all his gym badges before Leon could take Y/N on a date. Of course, he was proud of Hop but Hop was right saying he’d get all his gym badges before Leon’s first date with Y/N. What was it about younger siblings and their ability to be right with the most random of things? It was annoyingly weird.

Hop was making his way up from Hammerlocke and was going to be training on the road on his way to Wyndon. Their mom and grandparents wouldn’t be coming at all to watch Hop during his semifinals. It was nothing malicious towards Hop of why they wouldn’t be going. It was just an already scheduled surgery of his grandmother’s knee. A consequence of getting old.

Y/N had offered to go up and get photos of every match Hop would be in much to their family’s delight. Y/N almost had decided to stay in a hotel if it wasn’t for Leon reminding her it was much cheaper to stay at his apartment.

She had already made it to the apartment in the afternoon but Leon was a bit too busy to see her yet. The sun had already set by the time Leon had made it back home.

He was a bit too tired to pick anything up to eat and too tired to cook. A bowl of cereal was about to be his dinner. The light leaking out of his apartment window scared him for a second before remembering that Y/N sent a message that she was there already.

He opened the door. “Y/N, I’m home!” Leon yelled into the apartment.

“I’m in the kitchen!” Had been yelled back at him.

Leon made his way over quickly to say hello to his best friend and now girlfriend. “I haven’t seen you in-,” Leon looked around in shock. Y/N had torn the kitchen apart trying to cook dinner. “What did you do to my kitchen?”

Y/N threw away the severely burnt vegetables into the trash. “I asked Sonia for a recipe that may have been out of my skill level.”

Leon grabbed a towel from a drawer and began wiping off a counter. “Why though?”

“I figured since Sonia was the best chef out of the three of us that she’d have a recipe I wouldn’t mess up.” Y/N looked around at her failure and sighed. “It just got a little out of hand.”

“A little?”

“I was just trying to do something nice since we still haven’t been able to go out on a date.” She sounded a bit more defeated than she actually was.

“That’s kinda cute.” Leon placed a dirty pot in the sink before walking over to where Y/N was standing as scrubbed a bit of gunk off the counter.

“Cute? How is me, being a complete failure at cooking a simple dish, cute?”

Leon came up behind her and pulled her into a hug. “Cause you tried to do something nice since you loooovvve me?” He drew out the word love to be longer and sounded entirely cheesy in the process.

“Half of it was love. The other half was because I’m hungry.” She tried to not smile at Leon who had begun to place soft quick kisses along her cheek, neck, and shoulder.

“It was still out of love.”

"I also said out of hunger."

"Let me focus on the love part. It makes it more romantic than kissing you because of a burnt carrot."

"It’s essentially what you're doing though." Y/N teased.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Turn around so I can shut you up." He spoke playfully annoyed.

Y/N laughed at the way Leon had asked to kiss her. She happily complied with what he had asked. She turned around, throwing her arms around his neck before being pulled into a kiss.


	9. New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this! And I’m getting ready to post it right after this!

Leon laid in the hospital being kept overnight after his fight against Eternatus. He felt exhausted still and was asleep in the hospital bed. Hop and Y/N stayed in the room with him as they waited for Leon’s mom to come up from Postwick to check on him. They sat in the two chairs next to each other tired and a bit worried but overall doing okay. They were a bit shaken up after the entire event.

"How long do you think they're gonna keep him here?" Hop asked quietly. Leon had trouble falling asleep at the moment but once he did Leon slept for a long time.

"Not sure. Probably till they're sure he's okay. It’s just different from a normal pokemon accident." Y/N pulled the jacket she had been using as a blanket closer.

"I didn't think I'd actually have to help in the battle."

"Was it scary up close?" It was a question that she could guess right on her own. She just wanted to give Hop a chance to talk to someone he trusted.

"Yeah." Hop kept his eyes on the ground. "I was nervous about what happened to Leon. Wondering what was going to happen to me and Gloria."

"You two were brave." Y/N started.

"Thanks."

"But no one should have had to go through that. Especially at your age. Are you sure you're okay after everything?" Their talk didn't feel out of place. And it didn't feel out of line for Y/N to ask. She did her best to keep an eye on Hop when Leon wasn't around.

"I didn't get hurt."

"What about mentally or emotionally? It must have been a lot to go through."

"I just feel a bit shaken up. I think I'll be fine once I know Lee's okay." Hop’s phone buzzed. He took a moment to read what it said. “Mom’s here. I’m gonna go get her and bring back some food.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. You can watch over Lee. I want to make sure she knows I’m okay first.”

“Okay. Just don’t take too long. And bring me some water.”

Hop got out of his chair and left the room. Y/N had gone back to scrolling through her phone. There were plenty of news articles popping up about the Eternatus fight. It also had become one of those weeks where every news network remembered that Y/N was close friends with Leon. It was honestly a miracle that them dating hadn’t got out yet.

There were so many messages asking for an interview on how Leon was doing. It was so rude. They should just be patient and wait instead of using her to get information. If it wasn’t for her photography career, she would have gone off on every single message.

“Y/N?” Leon still sounded tired.

She looked up at Leon. “Yeah, I’m here still.”

“Come lay with me for a bit. I miss you.”

Y/N took her jacket off of herself and placed it on her chair. “I’ve been here since Hop called everyone.” She walked over to the bed where Leon laid.

“Where is he?” Leon moved over to make room.

“He left to go get your mom from up front and some food.” She laid next to him on her side trying not to take up too much space.

“How long ago?”

“Maybe fiveish minutes ago. I haven’t really kept an eye on the clock.” Leon grabbed Y/N’s hand, placed it on his chest, and placed his hand on top of hers. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A bit. Just tired." He turned his head over to face her.

"Go back to sleep then." Y/N suggested.

"After I see my mom. She probably wants to hear me say I'm okay." He smiled even though he knew once his mom came in the room he'd have to hear her say how worried she was.

"That's how moms are. It’s her job to worry.” They kept their voices low.

“Did I make you worry?” He was a bit nervous to ask despite it being a fairly normal question.

“Of course I’m worried. But also I know you’re gonna be okay. No need to be dramatic. I just want to make sure okay and that just means being here with you.” She leaned her head closer to place a kiss on his cheek.

“It means a lot.” Leon lightly squeezed her hand and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Y/N placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“I’m surprised you are yelling at me for not being careful.”

“No one could have seen that coming. I’m not gonna yell at you for an unexpected situation. If anyone does that it’s gonna be your mom.”

“I hope she doesn’t”

Y/N laughed. “She might. And since she might, I figured you’d appreciate it if your girlfriend didn’t yell as well.”

"I appreciate it a lot." He took a moment to place his other arm around her and pulled her in closer. "It's really nice that you're here."

"I'd be here even if we weren't dating. I care about you."

“I don’t think I could forget that.” Leon took a hold of her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.

She wasn’t affected by his behavior. “You’re supposed to be resting. Not trying to romance me.”

“I’m laying in a hospital bed. Maybe if you let me have this I’ll get better quicker.”

“I thought me lying here was supposed to help.”

“It does. But there’s just something about you that makes me feel like I’ll be better in no time.”

“You’re such a dork.” Y/N placed a kiss near his lips.

“I don’t think you’re complaining about it.” Leon kissed her lips. It was playful, almost as if saying ‘you missed earlier. What started as a single kiss turned into two. And that turned into a few before turning into many soft and loving kisses between them. Mumbles of ‘I love you’s were said in between.

It was a welcomed distraction for Leon. Not that he would say aloud, but getting hit in the ribs, by a Pokemon that could bring all of Galar into the Darkest Day, hurt. It hurt a lot. So being kissed was a great distraction. It was probably too good of a distraction. They were so focused on each other that they didn’t hear the door to the room open.

Hop was the first to walk in. Despite being happy for his brother, he was still disgusted to see him kissing Y/N. It was weird. His mother followed Hop into the room.

It was probably good that Hop was carrying the food for the four of them. If not his mother for sure would have dropped it at the sight of Leon and Y/N. She blinked and rubbed her eyes for a moment just to check if she wasn’t seeing things.

“Leon! Y/N!” She called out.

That one call of their names was enough to split them apart from each other. It wasn’t graceful. Y/N practically jumped out of the bed. Her hair was slightly a mess and bits of her lipstick had been left on Leon. Both of their faces were so warm that they felt like lava.

It wasn’t that they were embarrassed that they got caught. It was that they got caught without telling Leon’s mother about them dating yet.

“When did you two plan on telling me?!” Leon’s mother sounded shocked and unhappy that she was left out of knowing.

“Uhhhhh, surprise.” It was the only sentence that Leon could think of. “We’re dating.”

Y/N had no reason to feel like she was in trouble. Yet she was wondering how she wished she could fade into the shadows like her Mimikyu. It just felt so awkward. She went trying to fix her hair and trying to avoid looking anyone in the eye.

“How long have you both been together?”

“If it makes you feel better Y/N’s mom doesn’t know yet.” It was an attempt at keeping the peace between him and his mother. Leon usually never lied about anything to her. It kept him the golden boy in his mom’s eyes. Plus it wasn’t like he wasn’t ever going to tell her.

Y/N slumped in defeat. She forgot to tell Leon about that afternoon with her mom. “Actually,” She drew the word out longer, “She knows already.”

“I thought we agreed to tell them at the same time.” Leon was more surprised than upset at Y/N about breaking their promise. It wasn’t something to fight about.

“Sorry. She already had a hunch and I couldn’t lie to her.”

-

It had been a full week since Leon had lost his champion title to Gloria. The loss had forced him to look at his life and take a proper break. He had spent so much time in the public eye that he was able to take a break from being a celebrity.

It also meant he could take a break from battles and figure out what else he liked. He was spending the time figuring out what else he liked to do at home with his family. Leon couldn’t remember the last time he spent more than three days in Postwick in a row. It seemed like a good place to start if any.

The only annoying thing about his break was at any point that he left his family’s home to visit Y/N, Leon would be met with his mother joking about how he was off to hide more things from her. At first, it was just his mother but then Hop joined in, and then his grandparents.

The house was fairly quiet that afternoon. His grandma was asleep taking a nap in her bedroom. His grandpa was focused on the tv in the living room. His mother and Hop had left on a trip to the grocery store. He was actually planning on sneaking out just to avoid some jokes.

It’s not like the jokes had been mean. He just wanted to see his girlfriend without hearing his mother ask if he and Y/N were going to try to hide buying a building next. Her made-up hidden objects just were getting absurd.

Leon had successfully made his way down the stairs from his room without waking up his grandma. He was lucky that his grandpa was too focused on a rerun of an old show to notice the front door opening. Was this sneaking around something he missed out on from being a teenager? He shook his head. That had to be just a movie thing.

He turned the corner about to take his walk over and saw his mother, Hop, and Y/N standing in the yard talking together.

“I just don’t know what my mom will say if I told her I was considering it.” Y/N had her arms crossed holding her phone in her right hand. Her face was a bit scrunched up in thought. “It’s such a good opportunity but what if she thinks I’m not moving for myself?”

“Moving?” Leon questioned before his mother could answer. He walked closer to the three of them. “You never brought up that you were moving.” He barely knew anything of what Y/N was talking about but it still hurt that he wasn’t told first.

Hop grabbed the groceries that his mom had set down on the ground to bring into the house. He mouthed a ‘calm down’ at Leon before heading inside.

“I got an email for a job offer in Wyndon.” Y/N avoided looking Leon in the eyes.

Leon pulled Y/N into a side hug. "That's amazing. When are you supposed to start?" Leon had the bouncy excitement of an Eevee.

"Do you want to talk about this later?" His mother looked a bit concerned.

"That would be helpful. Think I could come back for dinner?" Y/N had pulled away from the hug.

"I'll see you then. Call me back out if he's too much of a handful." It came off as a teasing parental joke but had the warmth of a worried mom behind the words. She left to go indoors.

"Why would I be a handful about this?"

"Cause I’m not sure if I want to take the offer yet and you look so excited and happy about me being up there.”

Leon took a breath trying to calm himself down. “I guess you’re right about that. What is the offer you got?”

Y/N began to walk over to a tree as Leon followed behind her. “It’s honestly a dream job. It pays well. I get to do what I enjoy for a living without worrying about the fears of working a freelance job.” Y/N sighed as she sat under the tree.

Leon sat in front of her, taking her hands and holding them. “Then what’s the problem?” He spoke calmly making sure sincerity came through his voice.

“What if it's too good to be true? Also, it's so far away from my mom. I don’t have any family up there. Then there’s the cost of living up there. What if the pay only looks good because I live here and not in a big city?" There was panic held back in her voice. With every sentence, Y/N spoke a bit more slipped out.

"That fear you have is valid."

"I never said I was afraid."

"Your hands are shaking and you're shivering. You didn't have to say you’re afraid. It's clearly a big decision." It didn’t take someone as observant as Leon to read how she felt.

"What if something happens to my mom while I'm not here? The rest of our family is in another country. I'm the only one she has here. What if she gets angry that I want to leave her here alone?" She sounded scared but not so much that it sounded like she was going to cry. Just at the point of needing comfort.

There were plenty of questions that Y/N asked that Leon had worried about for his own family. Just not on the same scale that she was thinking of. "We both know your mom isn't that kind of person. She's always been supportive of you. She would never pressure you to stay here. And I won't pressure you to move either."

"I know." Y/N looked down and took a breath. "I know. It's just a case of the what-ifs. Who knew a job offer would start up a spiral of what-ifs about the people close to me?"

"You'd be surprised about how common it is."

“I mean I know but that wasn’t helpful.”

“I’m sorry. Just let me here to listen to your fears. I’m not going to tell you what to do. I can just give my best advice to you. Whatever you do, I know you’ll make the right decision for yourself.”

“Thanks. It means a lot.” Y/N looked down at where their hands were joined together with a smile.

Leon only responded with a short comforting squeeze.


	10. Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the last chapter. This is the longest fic I’ve ever written since High school. So everyone that stuck around, Thank you so much. This is the shortest chapter but it felt like I was at a stopping point. At least that means y’all get a double post today.

“What was it that convinced you to move?” Leon asked as he helped to pack up a pile of Y/N’s sweaters into a box. “It was only 3 days since you talked about it with your mom.”

Y/N and Leon had begun to pack up her stuff for an hour at the most. Much of the time was spent in comfortable silence. Leon had caught Y/N a bit off guard with the question.

“We had a long talk about me moving.” Y/N folded up an old jacket she didn't wear anymore to be donated. 

“And how did that go?” 

“She figured I would probably move one day. After that last battle of yours, she thought you were gonna be the one moving back here instead.”

Leon shook his head and laughed. “I thought about it.”

“You did?” She stopped taking a jacket off the hanger and looked over a Leon. “Is there any reason why you aren’t?”

Leon took a breath and sat on her bed. “I may have bought a building.”

Y/N’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. “A building like a house right?” She walked away from the closet and stood in front of Leon. “Why didn’t you just say house?”

“Cause I bought a building, not a house.”

“You’re clearly trying to ease me into approving of this. Just rip the bandage off.” Y/N crossed her arms.

“Rose Tower. I bought Rose Tower.” Leon did a shrug almost like he was saying surprise.

“I know I joked about retail therapy but that’s not what I met. I mean you’re set but still.” She was a bit concerned. Leon had spent so much of his life just working and they were only in their early twenties.

“I took the time to think about it. I have a plan.”

“What’s the plan?”

Leon patted the bed on his right. Y/N shook her head and sat down next to him.

Throughout what was supposed to be a break from any type of work turned into Leon rediscovering bits of himself. Taking the time to ask what he really loved about the past decade and decide what he could do with the future. Leon explained his plans on what would soon become the battle tower. The passion that Leon had over his plans for the battle tower reminded Y/N of when they were little. Despite it being so long ago, that excitement over Pokemon hadn’t died. 

They both had come so far. Both of their lives had just been moving at different speeds for a while and now it felt like they were back at a similar pace. With new jobs on the horizon, it made it quite a life change. For once Y/N didn’t fear it that much. 

Both Y/N and Leon had put in the work to stay friends that entire time. And with them being a couple it felt like no matter what happened now, things were just going to be ok.


End file.
